December 14 – Premier League Twitter activity was up this week across all clubs, to a total of 4,760 tweets compared to 4,290 last week. With three games to market in eight days and the clubs keen to move their Christmas merchandise. the increased level of activity is not surprising.
By Paul Nicholson
December 14 – The timing is interesting, if not ironically amusing. In the week that three former chairman of the English Football Association and two former chief executives wrote to parliament saying the governing body was not fit to govern, Nike confirmed it has extended its partnership with the FA for an additional 12 years through to 2030.
December 14 – The US-led probe into widespread football corruption has been marked by another significant development with an Argentine sports media company caught up the scandal agreeing to pay about $112.8 million as part of a deal to resolve charges stemming from the investigation, according to court documents.
December 14 – The completion of the sale of AC Milan to an investment group led by Chinese investors Haixa Capital and Yonghong Li, has been put back until March 2017. Originally due to complete yesterday (December 13), the new date reflects the difficulty the Chinese have had receiving Chinese government approvals to release the money.
December 14 – UEFA is preparing to impose another Champions League ban on Albanian club Skenderbeu because of an ongoing match-fixing investigation.
December 14 – The Scottish Football Association is to set up an “independent review” of child abuse allegations in football as part of the growing scandal that has rocked the game throughout Britain.
December 14 – Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) operator Oulala.com has closed a second round of funding of €1.35 million from private investors.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 13 – Gianni Infantino’s plan to expand the World Cup to either 40 or, more likely, 48 teams has encountered its first major obstacle from within one of its own confederations.
December 13 – Qatari authorities say they have finally abolished the antiquated ‘kafala’ system tying foreign workers to their employers and which has caused so much conflict amid preparations for the 2022 World Cup.
By Paul Nicholson
December 13 – Barcelona have added two new Chinese partners while ‘soon-to-end’ shirt sponsor Qatar Airways has confirmed that it is still in discussion with the club over commercial opportunities once Rakuten take over as the new main sponsor next season.
December 13 – Manchester United has unveiled digital music platform Deezer as its exclusive music streaming partner in a global deal.
December 13 – Their rivalry off the field remains just as intense as on it as Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo beat rival Lionel Messi to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or for a fourth time.
December 13 – Germany’s Bundesliga is tweaking its brand look, modifying its distinctive white silhouetted player on the red background to clearly identify three different brand ‘divisions’ within the organisation.
Let’s be clear: the McLaren Investigation Report, the second part of which was unveiled in London last week, poses no threat to Russia’s World Cup.
December 13 – With FIFA looking to expand the number of teams at World Cups and UEFA having already expanded its regional national competition to 24 teams from 16, the pressure on players, and subsequently on the clubs who pay them, is only likely to increase further.